System and method for trading commodities and the like

ABSTRACT

A system for trading commodities and the like comprising a computer, a communications link between the computer and the Internet, a database, accessible by the computer, containing a plurality of user files wherein each of the user files contains a plurality of transaction parameters corresponding to one or more indications associated with the user file. The transaction parameters govern the presentation and acceptance of indications associated therewith. The system further includes a database, accessible by the computer, containing a plurality of indications wherein each of the indications contains information corresponding to open bids or offers for commodities, and an indication selection submitted by a user over the communications link. Software executing on the computer receives the indication selection, retrieves an indication corresponding to the indication selection from the indication database, queries a user file in the user database corresponding to the indication to determine transaction parameters associated with the indication, and presents the indication to the user in accordance with any determined transaction parameters.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a system for trading commodities and the likeover the Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The commodities market is a constantly evolving market covering a widevariety of tradeable goods. There are three basic segments of thecommodities market: agricultural, natural resources, and financialinstruments. The agricultural segment is a broad segment coveringeverything from grains, such as corn and wheat, to oils and meal, suchas soybeans and sunflower seed oil, to livestock such as live cattle andpork bellies. The agricultural segment also includes forest products,such as lumber and plywood, textiles such as cotton, and foodstuffs suchas coffee and sugar. The natural resources segment covers metals andpetroleum, such as gold, copper, crude oil and natural gas. Thefinancial instruments segment is another broad market coveringeverything from interest bearing assets, such as government treasurybills to municipal bonds, to foreign currencies, such as the yen andEuro, to futures on most major indexes, such as the S&P 500 and New YorkStock Exchange Composite. For each of these commodities there aredifferent contract months, grades, amounts, and types available fortrading and the available commodities and contracts expands on nearly adaily basis.

Trading in such over-the-counter (“OTC”) commodities markets generallyinvolves commodity traders and commodity brokers placing bids to buyphysical commodities or derivatives, consisting of contracts known inthe commodities industry as “swaps” and “options”, the value of whichare based upon the fluctuating prices of one or more underlyingcommodities that are the subject of such contract, and offers to sellcommodities and derivatives, in the various forms. Such bids and offersare often designated as firm or non-firm. Firm bids and offers aregenerally non-negotiable while non-firm bids may be negotiable. Tradingof exchange traded futures and options are also extremely active in thecommodities industry.

There has been an increasing desire in the various commodities marketsto move toward Internet-based system to cultivate the vast capabilitiesand possibilities of the Internet in order to attract new clientele andto expedite and process transactions between parties. Currently, OTCphysicals and derivatives are traded dominantly via a phone based systemof Party A calling Party B. Regulated futures contracts have beentrading via a “pit” and electronic “non-internet” basis. However, theactual trading of the OTC physical and derivative commodities isgenerally left to brokers and traders using relatively traditional meansof telephone, fax, and telex. In this regard, various industry entitiescomprised of commodity traders, commodity brokers, and combinationsthereof, have been forming groups to study the use of the Internet as atool to “pool order liquidity” and “streamline transactions andworkflow”. However, a major problem occurs when multiple groups form asliquidity is thus divided up or spread out amongst the groups. Certaingroups may have dominant liquidity in commodities specific to thatgroup. However, commodities that are common to various groups haveliquidity drained by splitting the liquid pool provided by users amongstthe multiple groups.

What is desired, therefore, is system for trading commodities and thelike in an Internet-driven environment, such as designated web sites foreach group, that permit member traders and brokers of the groups to postand view bids and offers on commodities specific to that group as wellas common commodities and negotiate and consummate transactions based onthe bids and offers across the various groups, thereby pooling liquidityand truly streamlining transactions and improving workflow between thevarious entities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a system forfacilitating commodity transactions.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system thatpermits the user to control how any bids or offers submitted are actedupon and viewed by other users.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a systemthat permits users to operate within specific exchanges having specificcommodities.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a systemthat enables various exchanges to create and share commodities within aunified database.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a systemthat permits the user to rapidly peruse a variety of availabletransactions.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such asystem that operates over the Internet.

Another object of the present invention to provide such a system thatcan permit a user to quickly review the user's current position.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by theprovision of a system for trading commodities and the like. The systemcomprising a computer, a communications link between the computer andthe Internet, a database, accessible by the computer, containing aplurality of user files wherein each of the user files contains aplurality of transaction parameters corresponding to one or moreindications associated with the user file. The transaction parametersgovern the presentation and acceptance of indications associatedtherewith. The system further includes a database, accessible by thecomputer, containing a plurality of indications wherein each of theindications contains information corresponding to an open bid or offerfor a specified commodities, and an indication selection submitted by auser over the communications link. Software executing on the computerreceives the indication selection, retrieves an indication correspondingto the indication selection from the indication database, queries a userfile in the user database corresponding to the indication to determinetransaction parameters associated with the indication, and presents theindication to the user in accordance with any determined transactionparameters.

The user files may further containing exchange permissions correspondingto exchanges to which the user may access and al least one computerizedexchange for transacting specified commodities accessible by selectedusers having proper exchange permissions for each exchange. Softwareexecuting on said computer queries the user database to retrieveexchange permissions from a user file corresponding to the user,retrieves indications from the indication database corresponding to thepredetermined commodities within the exchanges to which the user hasbeen determined to have access and generating a presentation of theretrieved indications.

Preferably, the system permits a submitter of an indication to remainanonymous or reveal certain information to other users of the system andgrant preferred status to particular predetermined users by way oftransaction parameters. The system preferably also includes softwareexecuting on the computer for transmitting a plurality of formatting,sorting and content options to the user over said communications linkand formatting the plurality of bids and offers according to selectionssubmitted by the user prior to transmitting the plurality of bids andoffers to the user. The system may further include software executing onthe computer for transmitting an offer form to the user over saidcommunications link in order to create new bids and offers to add to thebid and offer database upon receipt of completed offer forms submittedby users.

The system may further include software executing on said computer forretrieving information necessary to finalize an acceptance of a firm bidor offer from the bid and offer database corresponding to a bid or offerselection, and finalizing said transaction. The system may also includesoftware executing on said computer for facilitating non-firm bids andoffers by providing users with contact information corresponding to saidselection from said bid and offer database in order to permit the userto communicate with the original submitter of the non-firm bid or offerselected by the user to complete the transaction. Such communication mayalso involve a negotiation regarding the selected non-firm bid or offer.Preferably, software executing on the computer also tracks theactivities of users and stores the tracked activities of each user intheir respective user files for later perusal by users and/oradministrators.

The invention and its particular features and advantages will becomemore apparent from the following detailed description considered withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system for trading commodities in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of the authentication process of the systemdepicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of the indication presentation process of thesystem depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of the indication submission process of the systemdepicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of an embodiment of the consummation oftransaction process of the system depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic of another embodiment of the consummation oftransaction process of the system depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic of the exchange and commodity-sharing features ofthe system depicted in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a system 10 for trading commodities in accordance withthe invention. The system 10 includes a computer 12 and a communicationslink 14 between the computer 12 and the users 16 of the system. Thecomputer 12 may be any type of computing device capable of performingthe functions described herein. For example, the computer 12 may be apersonal computer, minicomputer, mainframe, supercomputer, web server,or any combination thereof. The communications link 14 may take anysuitable form that permits communication between the users 16 and thecomputer 12, such as a direct-dial modem connection or hardwireconnection. Preferably, the communications link 13 comprises anappropriate connection between the computer 12 and the Internet andsoftware executing on the computer 12 for operating and maintaining aninteractive website for facilitating communication between the computer12 and users 16. Users 16 of the system 10 will generally includecommodity traders 18 seeking to place offers or bids and/or professionalcommodity brokers 20 seeking to do the same on behalf of their clients.

A user 16 of the system 10 must first be authenticated 22 before he canenter and utilize the system 10. The authentication process 22, shown inFIG. 2, generally includes the submission of authentication data 24associated with the user 16 that permits the computer 12 to recognizethe user 16, such as a username and password. Software executing on thecomputer 12 may transmit a prompt to the user 16 over the communicationslink 14 requesting the user's authenticating data. The user then submits24 his data to the computer 12 over the communications link 14. Uponreceipt, software executing on the computer 12 accesses a database 26containing a plurality of user files to verify 28 the submittedauthentication data 24. The user file acts as a depository for allinformation related to the user. Once verified, the user 16 has beenauthenticated 30 and can proceed to use the system 10. Alternately, thesystem 10 may include cookie technology that permits the computer 12 toimmediately identify and recognize the user 16 once the user accessesthe system 10 or the system 10 may include software executing on thecomputer 12 that recognizes the user based on the user's InternetProtocol (IP) address. These alternatives would allow the user 16 to beimmediately recognized without having to actively submit anyauthentication data.

If the user 16 does not have any authentication data 24, he may requestto register with the system 10. In such a case, software executing onthe computer 12 transmits a registration form 32 to the user 16. Theregistration form 32 may also be transmitted to a prospective user viaother means such as e-mail or postal service. Preferably, though, theregistration form 32 is electronic and is received and completed 34 bythe user 16 and returned electronically via a website to expedite andsimplify the process. The registration form 32 may request anyinformation deemed to be necessary by the administrators of the system10 to determine whether the user 16 is eligible to perform trades on thesystem 10 and any preferences the user may have regarding variousoptions described herein. Once the registration form has been submitted34 and approved, the user 16 is assigned authentication data 24, such asa username and password, and a user file 38 related to the user 16. Theuser file contains the authentication data 24 and any other informationprovided by the user in the registration form and is created 36 andstored in the user database 26. It is to be understood thatauthentication data 24 such as user names and passwords can be chosen bythe user 16 as opposed to being assigned by the computer 16.

Once an authenticated user 16 accesses the system 10, software executingon the computer 12 accesses a database 40 containing a plurality of openbids and offers currently available for trading that have beenpreviously submitted by other users 16 of the system 10. Such openoffers and bids are generally referred to as indications of interest, orindications for short. Each indication contains relevant informationpertaining to the bid or offer such as the type of commodity involved,the amount of commodity available, the price of the commodity, and/orthe contact information required, if any, to complete a transactionrelated to the indication. The software retrieves the indications fromthe database and presents 42 them to the user 16 over the communicationslink 14. Generally, the indications are presented to the user 16 as alist or table that permits the user 16 to select any specific bid oroffer.

Preferably, each of the user files in the user database 26 contains aplurality of transaction parameters corresponding to one or moreindications associated with said user file. These transaction parametersgovern the presentation and acceptance of indications associatedtherewith. The transaction parameters may enable a submitter of anindication to remain anonymous to specific users 16 of the system 10that have been predetermined by the submitter. For example, thesubmitter may wish to post his indications anonymously to certain otherusers for various reasons. The transaction parameters may also permitthe submitter of an indication to grant specific users preferred statusover other users of the system with respect to actions concerningindications submitted by the submitter. For example, a submitter mayhave had good relations with particular user and may wish to give thempreference over other users of the system such as for credit purposes orotherwise. In essence, the transaction parameters permit the submitterof an indication to control to how the indication is presented and actedupon by other users. Other examples of transaction parameters mayinclude whether the indication is firm or not or the desired contactperson regarding the indication.

The transaction parameters are predetermined by the user and may besubmitted to the computer 12 by a user 16 within a completed indicationsubmission form 58. The transaction parameters may also be determined bythe user 16 and submitted to the computer 12 within the completedregistration form. Software executing on the computer would retrieve thetransaction parameters submitted within the completed indicationsubmission form or completed registration form 32 and store thetransaction parameters in a user file corresponding to the user,

Preferably, the presentation 42 of the indications is completelysortable and interactive to permit the user 16 to quickly and easilyaccess any desired indications or information that is available, asshown in FIG. 3. Software executing on the computer 12 may transmit aplurality of format, content, and/or sorting options 44 to the user 16over the communications link 14. Such format options may include theformat in which the bids and offers are presented to the user 16, suchas in tabular or graphical format. Content options may allow a user toretrieve indications for specific bids or offers having certainparameters, such as commodity type, bid versus offer, or otherdiscernible difference ascertainable from any information submitted withthe indication. For example, the user may seek only open offers on brentor firm bids from a specific trader or broker. The software may alsotransmit a plurality of sorting options to the user over thecommunications link. Such sorting options could include options to sortby date posted, highest/lowest price, quantity available, etc.

It is to be understood that the format, content, and sorting options ofthe presentation of the indications are closely interrelated and can bepresented to the user 16 simultaneously. Upon receipt of the customerselections 46, if any, software executing on the computer 12 queries theindication database 40 to retrieve 48 any indications corresponding tothe user's selections 46. The software then queries 49 the user filesassociated with the retrieved indications to determine the transactionparameters related to each indication. The software then creates 50 apresentation of the retrieved indications based on the user's selections46 and determined transaction parameters. The created presentation isthen transmitted and displayed 52 to the user 16 over the communicationslink 14. Preferably, during the registration process or otherwise, theuser submits the user's preferred format, content, and sorting optionsto the system and the preferred options are stored in the user's userfile. As such, the user may be presented with a display corresponding totheir preferred options whenever the user accesses the system. Forexample, the user may primarily trade in three types of commodities andonly desire to see the five indications in each commodity having thelowest offer price. The user would still be able to modify thepresentation upon accessing the system and could modify the preferredoptions from time to time as needed or desired.

In practice, the user 16 may be presented with a menu permitting theuser 16 to select which commodities for which he would like to viewindications and in what order the display would be organized. Forexample, the user 16 may wish to be presented with a table displayingthe currently open offers on crude brent arranged according to number ofbarrels available. Additionally, the user 16 may search for a particularoffer matching specific parameters, such as bids on Brent for aspecified price, submitted by the user 16 to the computer 12 over thecommunications link 14. Preferably, the system 10 further includessoftware executing on the computer 12 for refreshing and updating theuser's presentation 52 of indications to reflect new bids and offers asother users of the system submit them. Therefore, the user 16 can beapprised on a real-time basis of the current bids and offers availablefor trading within the system 10,

Regardless of the format or style of the presentation 52 of indicationschosen by the user, it is important that the user 16 be presented withsufficient information to make a determination as to whether or not theuser 16 would like to pursue the bid or offer further. As such, initialdisplays 52 may only present a limited summary of the bid or offer inorder to conserve space and facilitate quicker perusal of larger numberof bids and offers. The user 16 may then request more detailedinformation regarding specific bids and offers, if desired.

As shown in FIG. 4, in order to submit 54 a bid or offer to the system10, the user 16 must complete and submit an indication submission form56. Software executing on the computer may transmit the submission form56 to the user 16 over the communications link 14. Alternately, thesubmission form 56 may be incorporated into the indication presentation52 to permit the user 16 to quickly view the existing market depth andsubmit a bid or offer. The submission form 56 requests all necessaryinformation for permitting a trade to be accomplished, for example thecommodity type, number of units, cash price, term of open bid or offer,delivery month, contact information, if applicable, etc. Upon receipt ofa completed submission form 58, software executing on the computer 12creates 60 a new indication based on the information provided by theuser 16 in the completed registration form 58 and stores 62 the newindication in the indication database 40. Preferably, the software alsoupdates the user's associated user file 38 in the user database 26 toreflect the submitted indication. This readily permits the user 16 toaccess all the indications he has submitted. Once stored in theindication database 40, the new indication may be accessed and presentedto all current and subsequent users of the system 10 for their perusaland action. Additionally, software executing on the computer may permitthe users to withdraw or cancel a bid or offer if such a bid or offerwere not firm or had not been accepted as of the time of withdrawal.

The process for completing 66 a trade or transaction depends on thecapabilities of the specific system and the type of indications beingpresented to the user 16, namely whether the system 10 processes firm ornon-firm bids and offers. If the system is 10 capable and certified toprocess and transact firm offers, the consummation of the transactioncan be accomplished very easily, as shown in FIG. 5. Once the user 16finds an indication that he desires to accept, the user may select theindication from the presentation 52 and submit 68 the selection to thecomputer 12 over the communications link 14. Software executing on thecomputer 12 would receive the indication selection and process andcomplete 70 the transaction appropriately and in accordance with anytransaction parameters that may be associated with the selectedindication 68. Once completed, the user 16 and the submitter of theselected indication may be transmitted 72 a confirmation that thetransaction was successful over the communications link 14 by thesoftware. The software may also remove 74 the selected bid or offer fromthe indication database 40 and update 76 the appropriate user files 38in the user databases 26 to reflect the transaction. Thus, through asimple process, such as a point and click operation on a website, theuser may complete a transaction when the system 10 includes firm bidsand offers.

In practice, a submitter would enter a firm bid to buy, or firm offer tosell commodities or derivatives at a specific price for a particulardelivery date, both of which were designated by the submitter in therespective completed indication submission form. If the user 16 desiresto accept a firm offer or bid, then the user need only click on thedesired firm indication using a mouse or keyboard or other appropriateinput device, at which point the transaction would be considered finaland binding between the user and the submitter. The system 10 then wouldautomatically generate a trade confirmation and transmit it to bothparties to the trade over the communications link.

In the instance where non-firm bids and offers are presented to the user16 by the system 10, as shown in FIG. 6, the consummation process ismore interactive and involved. As before, the user 16 selects andsubmits 68 the indication desired to be accepted to the computer 12 overthe communications link 14. Software executing on the computer 12receives the user selection 68 and retrieves 78 contact informationcorresponding to the selected bid or offer 68 from the bid and offerdatabase 40. The contact information 80 identifies a person 82,generally another broker or trader, to be contacted regarding theselected indication who has the authority and capability to complete thetransaction. The contact information 80 also contains appropriateinformation on how to communicate with the person 82, such as a phonenumber or e-mail address. The submitter of the indication may providethe contact information 80 of the desired contact person 82 during thebid or offer submission process 54, for example within the indicationsubmission form 56. Alternatively, the appropriate contact information80 may be obtained during the authentication process 22, included in theuser file, and added automatically to the bid or offer when a user 16makes a submission.

The retrieved contact information 80 is then transmitted to the user 16over the communications link 14. Upon receipt, the user 16 contacts theperson 82 accordingly depending on the content of the contactinformation 80 to complete 84 the transaction. The system 10 may providefor some flexibility of the indications submitted permitting the userand the contact person to negotiate 86 various aspects of the bid oroffer prior to consummating the trade. As can be seen, in instances oftransactions involving non-firm bids and offers, the user 16 mustcontact a third party apart from the computer 12, such as by phone orotherwise to complete the deal. However, the system could be readilymodified to include software executing on the computer 12 for providingusers 16 of the system 10 a computerized means for real timecommunication, such as a dedicated secure chat room, in which thevarious parties to the transaction may directly communicate to negotiateor otherwise complete the transaction. Nonetheless, the consummation ofnon-firm indications may be completed off-line from the computer 12.This aspect is indicated in FIG. 1 by the dashed lines.

In practice, a submitter, whether it be a trader or broker, would submitto the computer 12 an indication at a specific price for a particulardelivery or settlement date, both of which are designated by thesubmitter in the respective completed bid or offer submission form. Ifthe user sees the submitter's bid or offer, he may select it if he isinterested in negotiating a transaction based upon that indication. Oncethe user clicks on the bid or offer, the computer transmits the contactinformation for the submitter to the user over the communication link.For example, the computer would transmit the name of a broker and how tocontact him. The user may then, independent of the system or otherwise,contact the submitter and attempt to negotiate a firm and bindingagreement based upon the original terms presented by non-firm bid oroffer submitted.

Indications submitted by brokers may show the name of the broker and howto contact him and often the underlying client on whose behalf thebroker is working. However, depending on the transaction parametersselected by the broker, he may elect to submit all bids and offersanonymously for his client, i.e that a client's name or otheridentification information not be provided with any bids or offerssubmitted to the system 10. Alternatively, the user 16 may permit thebroker to submit indications under the user's name. Thus, the broker maysubmit a bid for a commodity and the indication could be shown under theuser's contact information and according the user's desired transactionparameters. It is to be understood that any other user of the system 10designated by the user 16 may be utilized by this feature and the otheruser need not be a broker. The feature may also be integrated as atransaction parameter. The broker may also provide a list of traders andbrokers having a preferred status with his client as part of thetransaction parameters. Traders and brokers with the preferred statuswould be able to identify the client 10 as the submitter of theindication and/or have other benefits regarding action on theindication.

The system 10 may also collect information regarding each transactionperformed by the user 16. Software executing on the computer 12 wouldtrack all submission, actions, and trades performed by the user 16 andstore the collected information in the user's user file 38 in the userdatabase 26. Thus, a user may access and view his personal tradinghistory. The trading history could be sortable and searchable to permitthe user 16 to access and display any desired or specific types oftrades performed. For example, the user 16 may wish to view allcompleted trades for a specific time period or cancelled trades for aspecific commodity or his position in a particular commodity. Thisfeature may be extended to permit an administrator to monitor and tracktransactions of a specific group of traders. In such an instance, theadministrator would be granted permission by the system 10 to access andview the user files 38 of specified users. For example, a brokerage firmmay have twelve traders working for it using the system 10. This featurewould allow the manager to monitor and review the transactions andperformance of each of the twelve traders or view the firm's position invarious markets. Software executing on the computer could permit theadministrator to sort and view the desired information in any selectedformat, similar to the options provided in the presentation process 42.The system may further include software executing on the computer 12 foroperating and maintaining a plurality of different exchanges 88, asshown in FIG. 7. The exchanges 88 permit the transaction ofpredetermined commodities and are accessible by only selected users 16having proper exchange permissions corresponding to each exchange.Indications involving the commodities associated with an exchange aresolely accessible by users 16 who have access to the exchange. Likewise,any indications submitted by users 16 having access to the exchange 88would be stored in the database under the commodity associated with theexchange. Accordingly, indications within the indication database 40 maybe organized according to the commodity to which the indication relatesto facilitate and expedite access to the indication by the exchanges 88and ultimately, the users 16. The exchanges 88 may be created by thesystem administrators or any other entity desiring to create anexchange. The party that creates the exchange may also decide and/orcreate the commodities associated with the exchange 88. Preferably, allthe exchanges 88 utilize and retrieve information from a commonindication database that is shared by all of the exchanges in the system10.

The exchange feature is shown by way of example in FIG. 7. Exchange B 88b is associated with Commodity B 94 in the indication database 40. Users16 b having exchange permissions for Exchange B 88 b may view and select96 bids and offers 98 from indications stored under Commodity B 94 inthe indication database 40. Any indication submissions submitted by theusers 16 b would be stored in the indication database 40 under CommodityB 94. However, as can be seen, users 16 b having access to Exchange Bmay not view or transact any indications that may be stored in any othercommodities in the indication database 40, such as the bids and offers100 stored in Commodity A 102.

In many instances, it may be desirable to grant commodity-sharingprivileges 104 to other exchanges to improve the liquidity oftransaction of commodities between various exchanges 88 and users 16.Such privileges would permit multiple exchanges to transact indicationswithin a single commodity in the indication database 40. As shown inFIG. 7, Exchange A 88 a is associated with Commodity A 102. If ExchangeB grants commodity-sharing privileges 104 to Exchange A 88 a, users 16 ahaving exchange privileges for Exchange A 88 a may now view and transact106 any bids and offers 96 in Commodity B 94 in addition to anyindications 100 within Commodity A 102. However, when users 16 a ofExchange A submit indications relating to Commodity A 102, theindication would be stored under Commodity A 102 in the database. Suchcommodity-sharing privileges are generally agreed to between the variouscreators of the exchanges 88. It is to be understood that any number ofexchanges 88 may agree to grant commodity-sharing privileges 104 betweenthem for any number of commodities. While FIG. 7 illustrates aunilateral commodity-sharing privilege, it is to be understood that suchcommodity-sharing privileges may also be bilateral permitting bothexchanges to view and transact indication within the other's relatedcommodities.

The exchanges 88 may be accessed through the authentication process 30to permit the user to directly access any exchanges 31 to which the user16 may have access. Software executing on the computer 12 would querythe user's user file to verify proper exchange permissions.Additionally, the registration form may permit the user 16 to selectwhich exchanges he would like to have access. The system may grantpermissions directly to the user 16 if the desired guidelines haveprovided to the system administrators by the exchange creator or therequest may be appropriately forwarded to the creator for independentdecision. It is to be understood that users 16 may directly contact anexchange creator and seek permissions and the creator may contact thesystem administrators to grant the exchange permissions. Regardless, ifa user is granted access to an exchange, the exchange permissions arepreferably stored in the user's user file 38 in the user database 26.

If the instance of exchanges 88, when presenting 42 indications to theusers 16 of an exchange, software executing on the computer 12 may querythe user database 26 to retrieve and/or verify the exchange permissionsfrom a user file 38 corresponding to the user 16 and retrieveindications from the indication database 40 corresponding to thepredetermined commodities within the exchanges to which the user hasbeen determined to have access. The software may then generate apresentation 52 of the retrieved indications and transmit thepresentation to the user 16 over said communications link 14.

The system may further include software executing on the computer fortracking and storing information corresponding to all the transactionsthat are completed on the system. Such information may include thecommodity, the number units, the unit price at which the commodity, forexample. Such tracked information may then be downloaded or otherwisetransferred to any desired third party database or system for furtherprocessing or use.

The previous description and figures encompasses specific embodiments ofthe present invention. More specifically, the description and figuresrefer to the trading of commodities. While the description refers onlyto commodity trading, it is to be understood that the system isapplicable to all types of trading of tangibles and/or intangibles,including, but not limited to, trading of products, things, services,stocks, securities, futures and bonds.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particulararrangement of parts, features, and the like, these are not intended toexhaust all possible arrangements or features, and indeed many othermodifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill inthe art.

1. A system for trading commodities and the like comprising: a computer;a communications link between the computer and the Internet; a database,accessible by the computer, containing a plurality of user files whereineach of the plurality of user files corresponds to a specified user ofthe system and further containing exchange permissions corresponding toexchanges to which the specified user may access; at least onecomputerized exchange for transacting specified commodities accessibleby selected users having proper exchange permissions for each exchange;and a display that permits users to post and view bids and offers andnegotiate and consummate transactions on common commodities from suchexchanges; whereby sharing of common commodities from such exchangespools and thereby improves liquidity.
 2. The system of claim 1 whereinthe display comprises designated web sites for each exchange.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1 further including a database, accessible by thecomputer, containing a plurality of indications wherein each of theplurality of indications contains information corresponding to open bidsor offers for commodities and the indications are organized according tothe commodities to which they correspond.
 4. The system of claim 3further including software executing on the computer for querying theuser database to retrieve exchange permissions from a user filecorresponding to the user; retrieving indications from the indicationdatabase corresponding to predetermined commodities within the exchangesto which the user has been determined to have access, generating apresentation of the retrieved indications, transmitting the presentationto the user over the communications link, and displaying thepresentation of the retrieved indications corresponding to thecommodities within the exchanges to which the user has been determinedto have access.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the specifiedcommodities associated with an exchange are viewed exclusively by usershaving exchange permissions corresponding to the exchange.
 6. The systemof claim 1 wherein the transaction parameters enable a submitter of anindication to reveal contact information to specific users of the systemthat have been predetermined by the submitter.